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altivoLast night I was sneezy. This morning I was nothing but sneezy until I took some cold medicine. Now the evidence is clear. I've caught a cold for sure. No idea where. No one at work is or has been ill, Gary hasn't had one recently, and he's the usual suspect as he gets it somewhere and then I get it a few days later. This one will remain a mystery.
Another winter storm warning, no idea whether it will really hit or not. Generally the odds on these things would suggest not.
No weaving done today due to inability to sit still without sneezing all the time. I did manage to get in a nap this afternoon while Gary (bless him) did my chores for me. He arrived home from school just in time to do that. Earlier in the day he sent me an e-mail message saying the library at his school had been evacuated for reasons unknown, but he was OK. We still don't know the reason. When I got home from work at 1:30 I thought to turn on my cell phone and it turns out he called that first and left a voice mail before he relocated himself to the student union building and reattached to wi-fi there to send the e-mail. The sirens and alarms in the background of the cell message were quite disturbing. Nothing in the news, on the school web site, or on twitter or facebook, though, so either students are still in the dark about it or it was much less significant than they made it appear. He said automatic fire doors slammed shut all over the place in the building. Bomb scare? Fire alarm? Hard to say.
Good luck to Shuttle Discovery and crew on its last mission, as the US manned space program slowly fades off into the sunset. Good luck to the people of Libya, and may you get control of your government before the US butts in and tries to remake you in its own image, stealing all your oil resources in the process.
Another winter storm warning, no idea whether it will really hit or not. Generally the odds on these things would suggest not.
No weaving done today due to inability to sit still without sneezing all the time. I did manage to get in a nap this afternoon while Gary (bless him) did my chores for me. He arrived home from school just in time to do that. Earlier in the day he sent me an e-mail message saying the library at his school had been evacuated for reasons unknown, but he was OK. We still don't know the reason. When I got home from work at 1:30 I thought to turn on my cell phone and it turns out he called that first and left a voice mail before he relocated himself to the student union building and reattached to wi-fi there to send the e-mail. The sirens and alarms in the background of the cell message were quite disturbing. Nothing in the news, on the school web site, or on twitter or facebook, though, so either students are still in the dark about it or it was much less significant than they made it appear. He said automatic fire doors slammed shut all over the place in the building. Bomb scare? Fire alarm? Hard to say.
Good luck to Shuttle Discovery and crew on its last mission, as the US manned space program slowly fades off into the sunset. Good luck to the people of Libya, and may you get control of your government before the US butts in and tries to remake you in its own image, stealing all your oil resources in the process.
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no subject
Date: 2011-02-25 09:24 am (UTC)Watched Discovery's launch last night. The holds ran quite close to the end of its window. With a bit of luck (and clear skies) we should be able to see both ISS and Discovery going over the next few evenings.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-25 12:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-26 12:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-25 12:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-25 12:46 pm (UTC)It's money that's at issue, of course. The corporate overlords who actually run the US government have insisted on sucking more and more profit out rather than allowing it to be invested in long range ideas and plans. Decades of Republican controlled Congresses have cut and cut research budgets, turning the available funding instead to the military where of course it goes back into the pockets of defense contractors immediately.
The shuttle program was already well behind then-current technology when the first flights were made. In the intervening years it has fallen farther and farther behind because there was no budget to invest in new improvements or phases. Like so many things, it is now being cut off in order to make sure that billionaire bankers can get their obscene bonuses every year. It's not as if that money were going to be spent on health care or better roads or housing. It's just to keep it in the pockets of giant corporations.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-25 03:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-25 04:14 pm (UTC)The price of gasoline was raised three times here in the last 24 hours. Why? I'm sure they didn't take successive deliveries at higher and higher cost, nor did they place orders for more fuel at wholesale prices that were rising. The station owners are setting their prices based on crude oil futures, which have been fluctuating wildly.
On Wednesday unleaded was $3.29. By Thursday morning it was $3.34. At 1:00 pm it was up to $3.49 and this morning it's at $3.55. There is nothing to justify this other than greed and gouging. But this will be used to justify "intervention" in Libya if they can get away with it. Just watch.
Meanwhile, the governor of Wisconsin continues on his union busting campaign without anyone pointing out that he has no legal right to cancel contracts or suspend collective bargaining rights of formally recognized unions. And he has sent the National Guard to detain state senators who are refusing to come to Madison and vote on his "plan."
Things are looking very bad for the US, I'm afraid.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-25 04:39 pm (UTC)We really need to fill the streets of Washington D.C. with protesters if the government thinks military action in Libya is a good idea. They must be disabused of that notion. They tell us we can't afford domestic programs, but they can always find money to intervene in other countries? Insanity.
One of my other LJ friends pointed out yesterday that when the voter turnout in 2010 was as low as it was, especially among the 2008 Obama voters, we were bound to get what is happening in Wisconsin and adjacent states. Sometimes people have to learn the hard way, maybe. The lesson is going to be painful. Though I suspect union voters turned out in usual numbers in 2010; not necessarily for the newly politicized voters (unaffiliated with unions) who pushed Obama over the top.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-25 06:16 pm (UTC)I strongly suspect that many of the protesters in Madison actually voted for Walker and for the Repuglican (that is not a typo) faction that is trying this stunt. People do not take a long view any more. They vote on hot button issues, often just one. They thought they could vote for less taxes, or against health care reform (not that the Obama plan is a reform, it's just insanity) without getting the obvious consequences that would go with such a vote.
I fully believe that even conservative federal courts will deny Walker the authority to do what he's trying to do, but that will take time and money down the drain.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-25 11:12 pm (UTC)It would be a worthwhile bit of research for me to see what reasons people gave for voting for Walker in November, and how closely what he's doing now matches that. I have to say I'm pretty ignorant of Wisconsin's issues, though they apparently bear some resemblence to Michigan's. I suspect you're right, that at least some of his voters didn't pay enough attention. Maybe it's like the situation was with Michigan's John Engler in 1994—people were surprised when he actually started doing what he said he would do when he was campaigning.
You're expecting legal challenges, then? That's a pretty safe bet, I think.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-26 01:52 am (UTC)I'm confident that federal labor law does not allow even a state government to simply set aside valid contracts at will or to deny the collective bargaining rights of a duly certified union organization.
It appears that Walker's move is being backed by some big corporate union busters who are promising him "rewards" if he succeeds. No surprise there either. The corporations already think they own us all, and I'm not sure we have enough strength to stand up to them any more.